PK-232 MBX – OPERATING MANUAL PACKET-RADIO
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4.4.4 Digipeater Details
You may wish to connect to a Packet station that is beyond your direct radio range. If a
third Packet station is on the air and both you and the station you want to talk to are in
range of that third station, the third station can relay or "digipeat" your packets. You sim-
ply set the "digipeater" routing when you connect. Here's a sketch that shows how digi-
peating can solve problems:
WX2BBB
/ \
WX1AAA _______/ \_________ WX3CCC
You are station WX1AAA – you want to have a Packet QSO with WX3CCC. But there's a
mountain between you and WX3CCC; you're out of simplex range of each other. However,
you know that there's a Packet station located on the ridge - WX2BBB - which is in range
of you and WX3CCC.
Instruct your PK-232 to set up a connection to WX3CCC using WX2BBB as an intermediate
digipeater. When you initiate the Connect, type:
CONNECT WX3CCC VIA WX2BBB
WX2BBB has turned off his station, but you can still contact WX3CCC by going around the
mountain through WX4DDD and WX5EEE as shown:
xxxx
/ \
WX1AAA _________/ \__________ WX3CCC
. .
. .
WX4DDD . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . WX5EEE
This time, type the connect command like this:
CONNECT WX3CCC VIA WX4DDD,WX5EEE
Type the digipeaters' call signs in the exact order of the intended path from your station
to the station with which you wish to connect.
You can specify a routing list of up to eight intermediate stations. In practice this does not
work very well, and Networking Switches such as NET/ROM have replaced digipeating for
the most part. Still, it is sometimes necessary to digipeat through one or two stations.
4.4.4.1 Are You a Digipeater?
Your Packet station can be a digipeater for other stations. You don't have to "do" any-
thing – your PK-232 will digipeat other stations – unless you tell it not to – with the
DFROM command.
If your transmitter is keyed when you're not using it, or during lulls in your own conver-
sations, you're being used as a digipeater by some other stations. This won't bother
your chat with your partner.
If you wish to monitor the other stations that are using you as a digipeater then set
MDIGI ON.
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